The sun is setting over oil platforms and container ships.
The images are from the same company.
Oil rebounded on Monday as investors assessed the impact of the Omicron COVID-19 variant on global energy demand.
The COVID-19 variant, which has more mutations than previous strains, was detected by scientists in South Africa. A number of countries closed their borders while the World Health Organization called it a variant of concern. Financial markets went into freefall on Friday.
With little evidence yet as to how contagious the Omicron variant might be, and what impact that could have on economic activity, risk assets including crude oil rebounded from last week's lows.
The price of oil was last up 4.3% at $75.89 a barrel. They had their biggest daily drop since April last year. The price of crude rose 4.8% to $71.31 a barrel.
The scale of Friday's sell-off could be questioned given the lack of information on the latest variant. The market seems to be coming to that realization in early morning trading today, with a relief rally underway.
Initial reports suggest that symptoms from the Omicron variant are mild, but there are still question marks about how effective current vaccines will be against this latest variant.
The oil price hit its highest point in seven years recently, as normal levels of activity have gradually resumed and drained global inventories. The cost of a barrel of crude is still around 12% below the highs it hit in November.
Many analysts and market watchers expect an overhang of surplus oil to form in the coming months as the economic recovery levels off.
The group was due to meet on Thursday to discuss supply policy. The technical meeting was postponed to give members time to evaluate the omicron variant.
The group has agreed to increase crude output by 400,000 barrels a day each month, but has been under international pressure to increase the pace of monthly increases.
A number of countries, including the US, the UK and China, agreed to release up to 80 million barrels of crude from their strategic inventories over the coming months. Analysts said that it casts doubt on what the organization may decide.
SEB chief strategist Bjarne Schieldrop said that he expects the price of the oil to trade in the 70's a barrel through the week.
He said that a decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to keep production unchanged in January could cause the oil price to go up.
Business Insider has an original article.
